Secrets in Green
by TheExtremeWriter
Summary: Between her secret past, the Newsie Strike, and a certain blue-eyed boy, things will never be the same for Lucy after she shows up at the Manhattan Lodge House. David/OC
1. Chapter 1

"What the hell did you think you were doing you worthless bitch?!" Mr. Andrews screeched, dragging a girl by the arm out of the factory. His grip was tight, and would probably bruise her delicate skin. Rain was pouring down from the heavens, soaking her already stained, raggedy dress. The sky was growing darker and darker, as it was getting later at night. "Trying to steal money from the ground."

"It was mine, Andrews!" She pleaded, trying to break from his grasp. But, he was too strong. The story was that she had seen a quarter on the ground of the factory and took it. She had been hoping to use it to get some extra food.

"You lying whore!" He yelled, slapping her across the face. It stung her cheek, but she kept a straight stare.

"Let go of me!" She said between gritted teeth, kneeing him in the stomach. His grip weakened, giving her a chance to sprint away. As she looked over her shoulder, she could see that he was following closely. Next thing she knew, her small frame was pushed to the ground, her hands and knees scraping against the stone. Andrews kick her multiple times in the stomach, and she screamed in complete pain. Andrews cackled like a maniac.

"I expect you to return to work tomorrow. You're lucky that I'm not firing you. Now get out of my sight before I decide I didn't teach you enough of a lesson." He stated coldly, and walked away. She was usually a tough girl. But this time, the pain got the better of her. Her tears falling freely, she tried to stand up, but fell back in agonizing pain. If the boys from Brooklyn had seen her, they would laugh and jeer. She was glad that Brooklyn was over the bridge. Rain was still falling heavily.

"Are you alright miss?" She heard a voice ask. Looking up with frightened, she was met with a kind face. His hair was blonde and stuck up a little in different places. He had an eyepatch covering his left eye and he was carrying a soaked stack of papers. He was a _Manhattan_ Newsie. Unable to speak through her tears, she shook her head. He kneeled down and touched her shoulder comfortingly, but she moved back in fear, causing her to grimace in pain in the process. "It's okay. You don't need to be afraid. I'm not like that guy. I'm Kid Blink. What's your name?" He asked. She stopped.

"L-Lucy." She replied through chattered teeth. She didn't want to say her last name. That would get her in even _more_ trouble. It was best that no one knew.

"Well Lucy, let's go get you cleaned up. Can you walk?" He asked. Lucy shook her head. Gently, he brought her into his arms, picking her up like a small child. Carrying Lucy down the street, he sighed. "The nerve of that idiot. Hitting a girl."

Kid Blink quickly brought her into a building just as it became pitch black outside. She'd heard of the Manhattan Lodge House before, but had never been inside until now. She had been told stories of poker games, wild parties, and other crazy things that have happened there. The air in the house was slightly warmer, but still cold. Lucy looked around, and saw that boys were strewn everywhere. What she also noticed was that all eyes seemed to be on her.

"Who's the girl, Blink?

"Who are you?"

"Whatcha doing here?"

"What happened to your face?"

Questions were flying like rockets. All Lucy could do was bear her head into Kid Blink's chest to hide from it all. Usually she would fight back, but right now, she was more scared than sassy. He noticed this and glared at all of the boys, holding her closer to him. Suddenly, a loud voice came from the top of the stairs.

"We're you all raised in a barn? Give the little lady some room!" A figure came sliding down the railing, jumping off inches away from Blink.

"Bring her upstairs away from these goons." Jack said authoritatively. Blink nodded and the three of them went up the stairs and into a bunk room. Lucy sighed of relief.

"Thanks." She muttered quietly as Blink laid her down onto one of the bunks. Jack nodded.

"What's your name sweetheart?" Jack asked sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Lucy." She told him, the tears having subsided, and her confidence slowly returning. Jack smirked.

"I'm Jack. Jack Kelly." He stated. Lucy stopped in her tracks. _He's Jack Kelly? _She thought to herself. _I shouldn't be here. The boys would kill me. _She made a sudden movement, but coward back in pain. Jack noticed this and sighed. "The guys also call me cowboy, so that's fine too. What happened to you?"_  
_

"I found her on the ground in the rain. Some idiot decided to soak her." He bitterly stated. Lucy sighed.

"My boss. He got mad at me, and decided to take it out on me physically." She told them through gritted teeth. Lucy shivered slightly, as the air was cold in the room. Without hesitation, Blink quickly grabbed the blanket from his bed and wrapped it around her. "Thank you."

"No problem." He replied with a smirk. The one eye that she could see glistened in the light. Jack got up.

"Imma gonna get you some bandage. I'll be back." He stated, exiting the room. Lucy still felt a bit shy. Something had just come over her that made her not want to talk. Maybe it was what she had heard about the Manhattan Newsies before, or maybe it was because she was still in shock from the fight. Blink looked at her, and honestly felt terrible.

"So, uh, where you from?" He asked, trying to make some conversation. Lucy froze. Debating whether or not to tell him the truth, she gave him half of an answer.

"I live close by." Was all she said. She twirled a piece of her blonde hair nervously around her pointer finger. Blink nodded, not wanting to pry her for specifics.

Jack came in with a wet washcloth and bandage and quickly began his work. He cleaned her wounds with the washcloth. Lucy wanted to look strong, so she tried not to wince, but she did sometimes shut her eyes tightly. Jack couldn't do much about her cheek, where a bluish bruise was beginning to form, so he just left it. He dressed her wounds with some bandage, and after he was finished, he backed away.

"Now, do you have a place to go?" Jack asked. Lucy looked downwards and shook her head. She couldn't tell them where she lived.

"Don't be ashamed. That's more than okay. You're welcome to stay here. Kloppman won't give you a hard time, I promise." He told her. Lucy was stunned, though it didn't show on her face. He had only just met her, and was offering to let her stay. Picking her up gingerly, Jack carried her across the room to an empty bed. Blink grabbed a spare blanket and put it over her. "You should get some rest, and we'll check in on you in the morning. I'll tell the boys not to be loud when they come upstairs."

Lucy looked at the two of them gratefully. "Thank you."

"Goodnight, Lucy." Jack said. Blink smiled, and the two of them exited the room, shutting the door behind them.

Once again, she couldn't believe how kind they were being to her. Only an hour ago she was washed up on the street with fresh bruises, but now she was warm and bandaged, beginning to heal internally and externally. Maybe what her older brother said to her was wrong. Maybe these guys weren't as bad as she thought. Closing her eyes and letting out a deep sigh, she surrendered to sleep.

Downstairs, Jack and Kid Blink approached the rest of the newsies, who had a dozen questions.

"What's her name?" Racetrack asked curiously.

"Lucy." Jack replied. "We don't know her last name though, 'cuz she didn't say."

"What happened to her?" Mush asked worriedly. Blink sighed.

"Her boss soaked her. Got her real bad. She's fine now though, just resting upstairs." He looked in the direction of the bunk room, and then back to the boys. "Our job for now is to look out for her. Got it boys?"

Everyone nodded and headed off to bed.

* * *

When Lucy woke in the morning, she looked around and saw a dozen sleeping bodies in the beds around her. Realizing that she needed to get to work or else she'd lose her job, she quickly and carefully got out of bed, her muscles aching and her ribs hurting. It didn't phase her though, she had felt pain like this before, so she just ignored it. The main goal was to get out of there unseen by any of the boys. Folding the blanket into a square shape, she placed it at the edge of the mattress, and grabbed her shoes from the ground, slipping them on. Tip-toeing out of the bunk room, she came face to face with her newest enemy.

The flight of stairs.

Grabbing onto the railing for support, Lucy eased herself down stair after stair, grimacing every now and then because of the pain. Almost to the bottom, and looking towards the door for motivation, her electric green eyes locked with a pair of cerulean blue eyes. He was tall and lean, and his hair was brown and curly.

"Uh, hello." He greeted awkwardly. Lucy paused.

"Hi." She replied quietly with a smile. Silence hung in the air until it was interrupted by a yell from upstairs.

"LUCY?" She heard Jack call. Cursing under her breath, she quickly hobbled down the rest of the stairs. The boy noticed her limp, but didn't ask.

"Sorry. Gotta run- or hobble or whatever." She nimbly stated before attempting to escape the Lodge house. Before she could go far, her hip gave out, and she crumbled. Before she could hit the ground, a strong pair of arms caught her. She looked up into the boy's blue eyes. "T-thanks." She expressed, a bit shocked by his reflexes.

"Lucy where are you?" She could hear Blink yell. Scrambling out of the boy's arms, Lucy exited out the door and onto the sidewalk. Jack and Blink ran down the stairs, seeing the boy standing there.

"Davey, have you seen a girl about this tall with green eyes and blonde hair pass through?" Jack indicted her height. David pointed.

"She hobbled outside. Said she had to go." He told them. Jack sighed, and looked at Blink.

"Stay here." Jack took off to follow her. David looked to Blink.

"Who is that girl?" He asked curiously.

"I found her on the street yesterday after she got soaked by her boss. Brought her here to clean her up and she spent the night. God knows why she's running away." David gasped.

Outside, Jack found Lucy walking slowly away from the Lodge House, limping. "Lucy! Lucy, where you going?" He came up behind her and put her arm around his shoulder to help her balance. She looked at him, trying to pull her arm away.

"I gotta go. If I don't show up for work, I'll get kicked out. I _need_ to go." Lucy pleaded. Jack shook his head.

"You're limping and in pain. You need to rest, Lucy. Come on. Lets go back to the Lodge House. We'll talk about this when we get there." Jack turned them around after Lucy complied. With her arm still around his shoulder, Jack helped her back to the Lodge House. As they walked in, they were met by Blink and David. Lucy and David locked eyes.

"Hello again." She said. David nodded.

"I'm David. Sorry that I didn't introduce myself before." He told her. She smirked. Something about the way he talked made her smile. He sounded much more proper then the rest of the guys.

"It's alright."

"Lucy, why did you leave?" Blink asked worriedly as Jack gently brought her over to him, and Blink took Jack's place in supporting her.

"If I don't go to work today, I'll lose my job." Lucy said, turning to Jack. Blink grunted.

"You'd really go back to that slime-bag who gave you these injuries?" He inquired, motioning to her inability. "If it were up to me, I'd kill him." Lucy nodded.

"I guess you guys are right." She sighed. "But do I have to sit here alone all day?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But we'll be back later, I promise." Blink said looking her in the eye. "Come on, let's get you back upstairs into bed." Lucy looked to David.

"Nice meeting you, David." She said as Blink picked her up and carried her upstairs and away into one of the bunk rooms. David, who had been holding his breath, let out a deep exhale. Jack laughed.

"She's a pretty thing, 'aint she?" He said. David nodded. "Come on Mouth, we've got papes to sell."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack, David, and Les were walking back to the Lodge House after a long day of selling papers. As they walked up the stairs, they could hear laughing inside. Walking through the door, they saw Lucy sitting in the common room with Blink, Mush, Skittery, Racetrack and Crutchy, laughing like crazy. Race was standing up with Jack's cowboy hat, imitating him.

"Ey, what's so funny?" Jack said walking in. Race turned around and smirked, throwing the hat to him.

"Nothin', nothin', we were just trying to make little miss Lucy over here smile." He said, jumping onto one of the couches. Lucy looked up with the brightest smile that David had ever seen.

"Hi Jack," She greeted. "Hi David." Les walked up to her.

"I'm Les. What happened to your face?" He asked curiously. David went over and put a hand on Les' shoulder.

"Sorry, this is my brother. Les, it's not very nice-" He started, but Lucy stopped him.

"No, It's fine." Lucy assured David. "I actually fell." She stated simply, not wanting to scare the young boy. He nodded.

"You have really green eyes..." He said, staring at her. "Are you going to the party tonight that Jack and David were talking about?"

"Wait...Party? What party?" She looked to the others. Jack grinned.

"Queens is hosting a party tonight. A bunch of us are going. You should come!" He told her, and all of the guys nodded. She knew she couldn't go, or else things would get ugly if Brooklyn was there.

"Sounds like fun. I don't know if I'm in the best condition to go to a party-" She started trying to get out of it, but Race interrupted her.

"Of course you are, I saw you walking around here today like there was nothing wrong." He said. Mush nodded.

"Come hang out! It's going to be so much fun."

"Yeah, and the Queens newsies are really great to party with." Blink told her. Lucy hesitated.

"Who else will be there?" She asked.

"I don't know. Harlem, the Bronx maybe? Probably not Brooklyn. Queens and them are having a...disagreement." He informed her. She mentally sighed in relief. She had nothing to worry about.

"I guess I'll tag along." She said. The boys cheered. "But wait, what am I gonna do about this bruise?" Lucy reminded them as she pointed to her cheek. A lightbulb went off in Blink's head.

"I know just the person to go and see about that."

* * *

"What are we doing here?" Lucy asked as she, Blink, David, Race, and Jack stood outside of the theater.

"Going to see a friend of ours." Jack laughed, opening the door, and ushering Lucy inside. The five of them walked towards a dressing room, and Blink knocked three times. The woman who opened the door smiled immeadiately.

"Boys! I wasn't expecting you!" She greeted. Her eyes then fell onto Lucy who was shyly standing next to Jack. "Who's this, Jack?"

"Medda, this is our new friend Lucy. Lucy, meet the world famous, the one and only, Miss Medda Larkin." He introduced them.

"Hello." Lucy replied with a small smile. Medda then saw her cheek.

"Oh honey. What happened to you?" She asked.

"It's a long story." Lucy said, not wanting to go into specifics. Blink spoke.

"We was wondering if you'd fix it up for her. We're taking her to Queens tonight, and she doesn't want to be asked about it a whole lot." He told Medda. Medda smiled.

"Of course. Come on in, sweetheart. Boys, you stay out here." Medda said taking Lucy's hand, bringing her inside and shutting the door. She brought her over to a vanity, and sat her down. Lucy, surprisingly, felt extremely comfortable with Medda. Something about her made Lucy feel like she'd known her for years. Medda was motherly. "So honey, let's put a little bit of makeup on that already beautiful face of yours. We'll hide that bruise and make it look like it was never there in the first place."

Immeadiately, Medda went to work. Lucy had only worn makeup one other time before, so she wasn't used to it. Medda covered her bruise, and applied some shadow and liner to her eyes. Putting mascara and lip gloss on, Medda stepped back and admired her work. Lucy looked in the mirror and smiled, not used to looking like this. Her green eyes stood out against the black liner and mascara, and her skin looked clearer than porcelain.

"Medda, how can I ever thank you?" She asked. Medda laughed.

"Don't thank me yet. I'm not done with you." She then tied a thin green ribbon, to match her tattered green plaid dress and eyes, into her hair, creating a half up, half down ponytail. "Now I'm done. Come on, let's go and show those crazy boys." Lucy laughed as she and Medda got up and headed for the door. When the door opened, were speechless. Race whistled, and received a hit upside the head from Blink.

"Lucy... you look great." Jack said to break the silence. David unknowingly was staring, as he thought she looked gorgeous. He didn't say anything though.

"Thank you." She replied to Jack as she locked eyes with David, feeling a flush cross her cheeks. David looked down, but then looked back and smirked.

"Now Lucy, come back anytime you want. If these boys are getting on your nerves, you are always welcome here." Medda told her with a wide smile.

"Thank you, Miss Medda." Lucy waved as the five of them left, heading towards the party.

* * *

As the five teenagers walked towards the Queens Lodge House, Lucy got a sick feeling at the pit of her stomach. Deciding to ignore it, she followed the boys inside, who seemed like they knew where they were going.

The room was filled with Newsies. There were girls and guys scattered everywhere, which made Lucy wonder why there were no other girls in Manhattan. Sticking close to her friends, she followed them to where there were some drinks. She wasn't new to parties, she had been to a few before, but none were this large. Jack handed the guys bottles of beer, and was about to hand one to Lucy, but then was interrupted by a voice.

"'Bout time Manhattan showed up." A boy slurred slightly. Jack smirked and shook his hand.

"Dodger, it's good to see you man." He replied with a smile. The boys waved, and Dodgers eyes then grazed over Lucy.

"Well who do we have here?" He marveled.

"This is-" Blink started but Lucy interrupted.

"I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you." She finished. The boys were shocked that she had spoken up, especially around all of these new people. "What?" She questioned. The boys shook their heads. Dodger smirked deviously.

"No really, the pleasure is all mine." He said, and winked when the boys were not looking.

"Lucy, you want a drink?" Blink asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, sure." She replied. Blink opened the bottle and handed it to her. "Thanks."

"It was great meeting you Lucy, but I've got to go see someone about some money they owe me. See you." He said before unsteadily walking off. When he left, she started laughing. Race was confused.

"Whys you laughing?" He asked.

"Never in my life has a guy winked at me. I was trying so hard not to laugh." She answered, which made Race and Blink start laughing as well. Jack exchanged glances with David, and they laughed too.

"Come on Lucy, lets go introduce you to some other people." Jack said, motioning her to follow. The pack of five went around, parading Lucy everywhere and showing her off like a trophy. She didn't care exactly, since she was just so happy to be around people her own age. She would meet Newsie after Newsie, and they'd all look at her the same way. Each time they did that, David didn't like it at all. He hated the way they looked at her like she was eye candy. Even though they had only met this morning, David had never seen a girl more beautiful, and wanted to get to know her better before any of the other guys could.

Halfway through the party, Lucy got the feeling that she was being watched. Looking around, she didn't see anything suspicious. Barely returning to the conversation, she looked to David, who was laughing and having a good time. His eyes sparkled, and stood out.

"Lucy, you okay?" Blink asked, taking her out of her daze.

"Yeah. It's nothing." She told him, and he nodded. Once again, just to check, she looked around the room. This time, her eyes locked with an unfriendly pair. His cane seemed to glint off of the light fixtures. She froze.

"Lucy? Spike asked you a question." Race tapped her, which made her jump. He stepped back.

"Woah, Lucy, you're not looking so good. You're as pale as a ghost. Are you alright?" Jack realized in a hushed tone. She took the opportunity.

"Actually no. Can I go back to the Lodge House? I'm really tired, and my ribs are starting to hurt again." Lucy lied. Jack nodded.

"Okay. Davey, would you mind taking Lucy back?" Jack inquired, intentionally pushing David towards her.

"Yeah sure, no problem." He replied slowly, slightly mad at Jack for trying to make things move faster than they were supposed to.

"Goodnight boys." Lucy said. David placed his hand on Lucy's back and guided her out of the Queens Lodge House.

The two teenagers walked in silence for most of the way. Lucy walked slightly quicker than normal, but David kept up. Finally, he broke the silence.

"So, um, how are you feeling?"

"Better. Still sore. But a large difference from yesterday."

"That's good." David looked up at the sky, as he saw stars beginning to appear. He glanced back to Lucy, who was looking upwards, and not where she was walking, which caused her to trip. David caught her before she could plummet to the ground.

"Jeez, you have exceptional reflexes." She remarked as she stood back up. "Thanks for catching me for the second time today." He smirked.

"Well I'd hate to see you fall." He added. Silence fell again.

"So, is Les your only sibling?" Lucy asked. David shook his head.

"I have an older sister named Sarah, and we live with our parents."

"That's nice." She smiled. "What I would give to have an older sister. I only have-" She started but stopped herself.

"You only have, what?"

"Nothing, never mind." She dropped the topic quickly.

They reached the Lodge House quickly, and Lucy turned to David. "Thank you for walking back with me."

"It was my pleasure." He replied.

"Well, goodnight." She spoke with a smile. Lucy gracefully opened the door to the Lodge House and disappeared. David smirked, kicked a stone on the street, and walked home.

* * *

Later that night, Jack and the other Manhattan Newsies were making their way back to the Lodge House. Laughing and stumbling like complete idiots, they finally reached the set of steps that led to the door. Before they could make it upstairs, someone tried to get there attention from behind them. Turning around, Jack, Blink, Race, and Mush were face to face with the so called 'King of Brooklyn' with his three Newsies.

"Spot! Whatcha doing here? Man, you missed a wild party tonight." Race asked. Spot scoffed.

"I'm here to take what's mine back to Brooklyn."

"Excuse me?" Blink replied, confused.

"You heard me."

"Spot, we don't have anything of yours." Mush yelled at him.

"Go home back to your 'throne'." Jack said, obviously drunk.

"I'm not leaving until I leave with whats mine." Spot spoke through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean?"

_"Where is she."_


	3. Chapter 3

"Who are you talking about, Spot?" Jack asked, trying to act as though he didn't know anything. Spot frowned.

"Don't play tricks with me, Cowboy. I saw her at the party with you guys tonight. I need her to come back with me now." He revealed, trying not to yell.

"What do you want with her? You don't even know her." Blink replied, and Race smirked. Spot laughed.

"Try me."

"Well then, what's her name?" Mush asked with a laugh, doubting Spot's knowledge.

"Lucille Rose _Conlon_." Spot stated with a straight face.

"Very funny, Spot." Jack brushed off the comment.

"You think I'm kidding? I don't have time for this, just let me upstairs." Spot said, pushing past the intoxicated gang of boys, but was blocked by a boy with blue eyes.

"Why do you want to see her Spot. She's obviously trying to avoid you." David said coming out of the Lodge House. Jack looked shocked.

"Davey, I thought you went home?"

"I did, but I felt bad for leaving Lucy here with some of the guys she didn't know, so I came back. She was already asleep, so I just decided to hang out with Skittery." David explained.

"I want to see her because I can." Spot stated, pushing past David. He stomped upstairs with the boys following close behind, telling and yelling at him to leave. Spot opened the bunk room door, took off his hat, and walked over to where Lucy was sound asleep. She was still dressed in the clothes she wore to the party, but she had taken the makeup off of her face, causing her bruise to stick out like a sore thumb. Spot gently touched her cheek, causing her to shudder in her sleep. He turned to the boys. "I swear to god if one of you did that-"

"Her boss did that. Blink found her outside yesterday in the rain and brought her here." Mush explained calmly. Jack then took a step forward. He looked from Spot to Lucy as he saw them side by side. The resemblance between them was uncanny. They had the same colored hair, same face shape. It was obvious that they were related. He didn't know why he hadn't seen it before. Spot lightly started to shake Lucy, but David came and stopped him.

"Are you stupid? Let her sleep." He pulled Spot's arm away. Spot glared.

"I'm her brother, and I'll wake her up when I want to." He spoke through gritted teeth. David was stunned at his words. _Brother_. He looked to Jack, who nodded.

"I guess you weren't kidding, Spot." Jack stated.

"I never lie." He replied, as he brushed David away. Spot then proceeded to shake Lucy awake. Her green eyes opened slowly.

"What's going on-" She started, but then she looked upwards at who she was awoken by. Her eyes turned from sleepy to filled with fear. "Get away from me." she whispered as she sat up quickly.

"No. We're leaving." Spot told her. She glared.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Lucy spoke angrily.

"Yes you are." Spot roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her up, causing her to holler in pain from her injuries. He hadn't realized her other injuries. Spot's face turned from anger and frustration to serious concern. Jack pushed Spot away as Lucy fell onto the ground, and David quickly kneeled down beside her.

"Lucy are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She replied as David helped her up. Lucy walked over to Spot, who was being held back by Jack. "Leave." She told him.

"No, you're coming back to Brooklyn with me."

"I'm not going back with you. I left for a reason."

"I don't care. I'm trying to do whats best for you."

"If you want to do whats best for me, than leave." She spoke, tears stinging her eyes.

"Lucille Rose-" Spot started, but then was interrupted when Lucy's hand painfully collided with his cheek, which left it red and stinging. Spot began to charge, but was held back easily by Jack. Mush had pulled Lucy away by her waist from Spot just incase.

"JUST GO!" She screamed at Spot, tears falling as she pointed to the door. He put back on his hat, glared, pushed Jack away, and walked out. For a moment, there was silence in the room. The five boys exchanged both confused and estranged looks.

"The kitten has claws..." Race simply said, lighting up a cigar. Lucy looked up to see the boys staring at her as if she was crazy. Becoming self-conscious and anxious, she finally spoke.

"I'm so sorry."

Within seconds of mumbling those words, Lucy ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. The boys tried to find the words to describe the situation, but none were discovered besides the obvious.

"So the King of Brooklyn has an heiress to the throne, eh?"

Lucy hugged her knees to her chest as she against the door, tears rolling down her face. This is exactly what she didn't want to happen. She didn't want Spot to be an overbearing older brother. She didn't need him to be. Lucy had left Brooklyn a while back, and she didn't want him to act like a father after the two lost their parents. As she sat alone in thought, she heard someone knock.

"Lucy, come on out. It's okay, there's no need to be sorry." She heard Blink say.

"But I don't need you boys to see me crying like a baby."

"It's alright Lucy. We won't judge you." With a sigh, she got up and opened the door slowly to reveal Blink leaning against the door frame. He pulled her into a comforting hug, and then brought her over to the other boys.

"Lucy why are you sorry?" Jack asked.

"I didn't mean for things to end up like this." She stated. Mush sighed.

"Why don't you start from the beginning. Tell us how this all happened, and maybe we'll be able to help."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes." All five of them spoke in sync. Lucy nodded.

"Well, it all started a couple of months ago..."

* * *

_In the late afternoon, the air hung low, and the humidity filled Brooklyn. Lucy sat in her bedroom in the Brooklyn Lodge House, throwing a ball against the wall farthest from her bed. She had already read and re-read the books in the building today as she always did, and was bored out of her mind. Spot never let her leave. He said the city was full of creeps who would hurt her, and so he kept her safe by not really letting her go anywhere. Sure, she was able to go to the store and buy lunch, but when the sun started to go down, she had to be back. Ever since their parents died, Spot became the boss, __which was both a good thing and a bad thing._

_Suddenly, as Lucy was caught in her boredom, she heard rocks being pelted onto the window. Going over to see and opening the window, her eyes locked with a gorgeous pair of blue eyes, brighter than the morning sky._

_"Hey Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" He called. It was her best friend from Queens, Tracks. Laughing as she climbed onto the fire escape, she ran down to greet him. He had always called her that, since she was always locked in her "tower"._

_"Hey Tracks." She greeted with a smile."You know I'm not supposed to be down here, right?"_

_"Who says we can't break the rules every once in a while." He stated with a wink. The promise of freedom tempting her, the two of them raced off into town. They were out for hours. By the time they started to walk back to the Lodge House, it was well past sundown. As they walked, they could hear the scuffling of feet behind them. _

_"Tracks, do you hear that?" Lucy asked, slightly anxious._

_"That won't be the only thing he'll be hearing in a second." A grim voice stated from behind. Turning around, Lucy was face to face with her brother._

_"RUN!" She cried, but only to find that within seconds of saying this, she was grabbed by one of the Brooklyn Newsies, Giant, who given his name, was much larger than she was. She watched in agony as Spot and some of the other Brooklyn Newsies soaked Tracks until he fell to the ground unconscious. Lucy screamed, kicked, and punched all the way back. _

_Once back at the Lodge House, she was thrown into her room by Spot, who came inside shortly after._

_"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" He screamed, throwing his cane down onto the ground. "I give you basic rules, and you don't listen to any of them! This is for your own good Lucy! I'm trying to protect you! I don't want to lose you too!" Tears streamed down Lucy's face as she coward in the corner of the room. _

_"Spot, I'm sorry! Stop yelling." She pleaded. Spot came over and slapped her harshly across the face, causing more tears to fall. He then proceeded to storm out of the room. Lucy decided that enough was enough. Quickly and quietly, she put her belongings into a pillow case, and jumped out of the window onto the fire escape. Running down the street and over the bridge, she decided that it was time for a new start._

* * *

"I've been good for the last three months working in that factory, but then yesterday is when things took a turn for the worst. Then, Blink found me, and here I am. Tonight was the first time that I've seen Spot since that night." Lucy explained, then took a deep breath. Looking at the boys, their eyes were full of sympathy. They had no idea what was happening until now.

"Spot is crazy for doing that to you." Race said, putting out his cigar.

"Did he really think he could keep you locked up forever?" Mush asked. Lucy nodded.

"That's why my nickname in Brooklyn was Rapunzel. They didn't call me that in front of Spot though, because he would get angry." She told them. David looked stunned.

"Well, what matters now is that you're here with us now. We'll treat you betta' then Spot ever treated you. Right boys?" Blink asked, to which everyone agreed. Lucy smiled.

"I'm sorry though for lying to you, or not telling the truth. I just didn't know who was close with him. I didn't want to cause another conflict. The reason why Queens is mad at Brooklyn is because of me." She admitted.

"We completely understand. You did what you had to do." David told her with a warm smile. He sighed. "I should be getting home, and all of you should be heading to bed." Everyone got up, and David walked to Lucy, giving her a hug.  
"You're really brave, you know that right?" He said with a smirk before walking out. Her cheeks were slightly flushed when he disappeared, and all the boys noticed.

"Uh oh. She's blushing!" Mush cried with a laugh. She hit him playfully.

"Shut up." She said simply. The boys smiled and laughed as they climbed into their respective beds.

"Goodnight, Lucy. We promise that we aren't going to let Spot lay a finger on you until this is sorted out." Jack told her, pulling her into his arms, and giving her a brotherly kiss on the forehead. He went and turned off the lights, jumping onto his bed.

"Thanks Jack." She said with a smile. "Goodnight boys! She called, crawling back into her warm bed, a weight having been lifted off of her shoulders. Starting now, there were to be no more lies, and no more secrets. It was just going to be Lucy Conlon, continuing her fresh start.


End file.
